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ASP Forum
Dumb Customers?
"Many of our users lack basic PC and subject-matter skills, so they call
our tech support line whenever they get stuck. As you can imagine, our
support costs are staggering. What can we do?"
—Molly from Minnisink
Dear Molly,
I think the first thing you need to do is to quantify “staggering.”
What percentage of your calls can you peg as this basic type of
support? What are your costs, per user, for this type of call? If
you can get to those numbers, the next number you need to find is
the cost of basic computer training, per user. One number will be
higher. If the support cost is higher, you have a reasonable
argument for training: ROI. If training costs are higher, then it
makes more sense to absorb the costs as part of support—frustrating
though it may be to have skilled support folks answering very basic
questions.
Good luck!
Roy
—Roy Atkinson
Supervisor, IT Desktop Support
The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor
207-288-6665
roy.atkinson@jax.org
You see runaway costs, but your users almost certainly see a product
that's hard for them to use and that requires more knowledge and skills
than many of them possess. You should start by making a serious effort
to solve the customer's problem. If you succeed, your
problem will go away.
Almost certainly, the first step is to enhance your training program.
Especially if "basic PC and subject-matter skills" are the problem,
just teaching users how to run your software is clearly not enough. You
probably don't need to create training materials for these basic areas
from scratch—there are usually good generic resources for
teaching computer skills and subjects like accounting or database
management. In fact, the easiest solution may be to buy a bunch of
copies of a popular "Dummies"-type book and let your support reps pop a
copy in the mail to any user who doesn't seem to grasp the fundamentals.
Just as importantly, create a certification process—a test, if you
will—that measures how well an individual user has mastered both
your product training and those more generic skills. Then when a user
calls who hasn't met the certification standards, your reps can politely
recommend additional training. And if a user keeps calling back with
dumb questions, you can reasonably call his or her boss and say that
you're concerned that the company's important data seems to be in the
hands of an untrained employee...
Trust me, this will get the boss's attention.
Jeff
—Jeffrey Tarter, executive director
Association of Support Professionals
[If you have any other advice on this question, please send an
email to membership director Jane Farber at jfarber@asponline.com,
and we'll post your feedback.]
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